The present invention relates to a safety or monitoring device for a baby or infant's crib. More specifically, the present invention is an audio and/or visual annunciator for the simultaneous occurence of the crib side rail of a baby's crib left, improperly, in the "down" position with an infant located in the crib. If an infant is of a sufficient size, age or weight such that it has the ability to stand in the crib, then even though the infant may be placed into the crib in a sleeping state, when it awakens after sleep, it could then stand up in the crib and seek to climb out or accidentally fall out of the crib, if the crib side rail is mistakenly left lowered. It is important that the crib rail not be left in the "down" position with a child in the crib. The present invention is a solution to requiring that parents, nurses, child care personnel, etc. necessarily remember to lift the crib side rail to the "up" or safety position. The present invention reminds the child's then-present attendant to raise the crib rail when certain conditions are present.
The present invention, as will be explained, will, however, not awaken the sleeping infant unless it is absolutely necessary for the audible annunciator to do so to draw the attention of the attendant to the unsafe condition that exists, namely, a child is in the crib and the crib rail is in the "down" or lowered i.e., potentially unsafe position and the attendant has left the vicinity of the crib or failed to raise it in a predetermined time after the baby is placed in the crib. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention the audio annunciator will not sound, even though a baby is in the crib and the crib rail is "down" until after a period of time has elapsed thereby reflecting the probability that the attendant has forgotten to raise the crib rail. Prior to the audible alarm's sounding, a visual alarm can be activated. This preferred time delay between inaudible and audible alarms permits the attendant to place the child into the crib and allow the baby to "settle" into a sleeping mode, first, before the crib rail is mechanically raised (which necessarily has associated noise). The inaudible alarm directs the attendant to the potential problem and if the attendant leaves the crib or fails to raise the side rail within a time period then the audible alarm sounds.